Cardinal Task

A to-do list for people who live on the keyboard.

Type one line and press Enter. It lands in the right list with its due date, priority and link already set.

Free. Press n to start typing, ? for every other key.

Typing Fix the flaky login test #work !high tomorrow makes the task “Fix the flaky login test” in the work list, high priority, due tomorrow.

One line, a few markers

Anything the parser recognises turns into a chip under the input as you type. Everything else is the title.

TypeWhat it does
#workFiles it under the list "work". New names make a new list.
!highHigh priority. !low for low.
todayDue today. tomorrow works too.
fridayDue next Friday. Any weekday works, short forms too.
2026-11-03Due on that date.
https://…Becomes the task's link: a branch, a PR, an issue.

Every action has a key

The mouse and touch work everywhere too, and so does a screen reader. The keys are for when your hands are already on the keyboard.

A keyboard with the Cardinal Task shortcut keys marked in red: n, x, e, d, Enter, Esc, j, k, slash, g, i, t and u. Esc 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = ⌫ Tab q w e r t y u i o p [ ] \ Caps a s d f g h j k l ; ' Enter Shift z x c v b n m , . / ? Shift
The marked keys. Press ? in the app to see this list any time.

Tasks

n
New task
x
Complete (or reopen)
e
Edit in the drawer
d
Set the due date
Enter
Open the selected task
Esc
Close or clear

Move

j
Next task
k
Previous task
J
Move task down the list
K
Move task up the list
/
Search
?
This cheat sheet

Go to

g theni
Inbox
g thent
Today
g thenu
Upcoming
g thend
Done

Your list, on any machine you sign in from.

An account keeps your tasks in one place. There is nothing to pay for.

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